State declines to investigate sheriff

PORT CLINTON — The state's Bureau of Criminal Investigation on Thursday refused a request from the Ottawa County prosecutor to investigate whether Sheriff Steve Levorchick mishandled a rape complaint in 2008. "Due to internal request prioritization, our assistance in this matter cannot be provided," wrote Jeffrey A. Cook, special agent supervisor of the major crimes special investigations unit in Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost's office. Yost has refused to answer questions about three alleged rape victims, one of whom, Arica Waters, he's agreed to prosecute for allegedly lying about being raped. The other two women have accused the same man, who Yost calls the victim in the falsification case he is prosecuting. It's unclear why Yost is ignoring the other two women, or why Waters was charged with lying about being raped but the other two women were not charged. Waters, 29, a former Put-in-Bay police officer, was indicted in October on a felony falsification charge after she told a sheriff's detective she was raped by another police officer. Levorchick failed to tell the detective investigating Waters' complaint that he investigated the same man in 2008 after a woman told police that same man and another man raped her. The second man accused in 2008 was an acquaintance of Leverchick's. Levorchick said he did not interview either man after the woman lodged the complaint because she decided she did not want to pursue charges. The investigation was closed just days after she talked with Levorchick. Ottawa County prosecutor James VanEerten received information alleging the sheriff discouraged the woman from pursuing charges. He said he's considering asking the Ohio Association Chiefs of Police or the Buckeye State Sheriffs' Association to conduct an investigation. He also is considering asking the court to appoint a special prosecutor, who could select an agency to conduct the investigation. Yost supports eliminating the statute of limitations for crimes of rape, saying he gained a new perspective after learning about the trauma victims endure from details of the alleged sexual abuse of athletes at Ohio State University by a university doctor, Richard Strauss. Strauss sexually abused at least 177 male students between 1979 and 1998, according to an investigative report. Yost refused to answer questions about his support for eliminating the statute of limitations and why he is ignoring the other two women who filed complaints against the alleged victim in the Waters' case.